


the original walls of this garden

by Wrennydennydoo



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-02
Updated: 2020-02-01
Packaged: 2020-10-05 20:02:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20494532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wrennydennydoo/pseuds/Wrennydennydoo
Summary: Different story, same characters. Aziraphale is grateful for what he has.





	1. Chapter 1

It makes him warm as a sun-heated snake to know that Crowley is his. No-one would think of Aziraphale as possessive because no-one (but Crowley) knows him well enough to say so. 

The snake in question, having finished ordering Adam’s school things plus extra stock for the bookstore, has retreated to the garden with their young, chaotic charge. Crowley is weeding. Aziraphale can see him without gloves pulling at something spiky while avoiding the dandelions he's fond of. Adam is doing something that looks like digging, and Aziraphale fondly suspects he is uncovering an anthill. Sitting comfortably and observing the garden from the window with a mug of tea, Aziraphale watches his son and his-- Snake? Lover? Husband?-- tend to the flowers and remove slugs. 

A strain of conversation is exchanged between the pair. Aziraphale catches just enough to know it’s apple tree time. 

An odd paralellism, encouraging the boy to tend to the tree. Odder the demon as caretaker. Different story, same characters. 

One of the things, Aziraphale supposes, Crowley had failed to consider about taking in the baby antichrist was what to do with the child after the apocalypse. They couldn’t very well get rid of him. Aziraphale is, for lack of a better word, attached, and Crowley isn’t much better. Adam and his friends in Tadfield are a fixture in their lives. All of Aziraphale’s books had been moved eleven years ago, and Crowley has never quite gotten the roses to grow properly. Yes, Tadfield is some sort of home. And there were no bosses from Up or Down to police them, leaving Crowley leave to terrify both Linda on the PTA team and his roses. 

Adam, dashing into the back field, runs for the apple tree he had grown. It's still just a little seedling, but it has put out a singly blossom and is doing its utmost not to break under the weight of a single, perfect apple. 

Adam is very proud of his tiny seedling. Crowley is proud of Adam’s green thumb. In that moment, Aziraphale loves so much. His lover, his son. Time changes everything. 


	2. prelude to the first

At the time, Crowley thought gloomily, it had seemed like a brilliant (if a little bit rushed) plan. It goes to show that no one thinks clearly when the antichrist is involved. Two weeks later and Aziraphale wouldn’t talk to him, Hastur was calling at odd hours with suspicion in his eyes, two of Crowley’s plants were dead because he forgot to water them, and he hadn’t slept a full night since...well, since he made the terrible brilliant plan. 

It took place a little like this: 

He had sauntered up to Hastur and Ligur, been unexpectedly handed a baby in a basket, and then was in his car talking to Satan. Sometimes, Crowley had reflected in a daze, that’s just how it goes. One minute you’re wrecking gleeful chaos on London and the next you’re bringing about the end of the world, the antichrist in the backseat of your antique car. The Adversary, Destroyer of Kings, Angel of the Bottomless Pit, Great Beast that is called Dragon, Prince of This World, Father of Lies, Spawn of Satan, and Lord of Darkness, was in the  _ fucking backseat of the Bentley.  _

In the fucking backseat of Crowley’s Bentley, the baby began to cry and Crowley’s headache grew to something mighty. 

“Hey, shhhh… Little one, little one,  _ pleasssse,  _ please be quiet,” Crowley hissed, somewhat desperately. The thin wailing grew louder, and in desperation he pulled out his cell and dialed up Aziraphale’s number. The line didn’t connect. 

The gleeful havoc Crowley had wrecked earlier was no longer looked upon with glee. In retrospect, bringing down the mobile phone towers outside of London was an especially bad idea. 

In an even more desperate move, Crowley swerved over to the edge of the road and imagined a perfectly functioning telephone booth. And before closing the driver’s side car door, he hesitated--he couldn’t very well leave a newborn in a car, wailing like that. So as an afterthought, the demon Crowley pulled the Adversary, Destroyer of Kings, Angel of the Bottomless Pit, Great Beast that is called Dragon, Prince of This World, Father of Lies, Spawn of Satan, and Lord of Darkness out of the basket and into his own arms before heading over to the new phone booth and calling the one being that could probably help him.

“I don’t know what you expect  _ me  _ to do about it, at this hour,” Aziraphale said crossly over the phone. “Deliver the antichrist, dear boy, and then we’ll sort out the impending apocalypse.” 

Aziraphale was in a bad mood. Crowley thought this was unfair; after all, it’s not like the angel had been woken up from a deep sleep, as most human beings would have been in at one a.m. In fact, it was very doubtful that Aziraphale had ever even tried sleeping. In the crook of Crowley’s elbow, the little antichrist let out another snuffly wail. 

“Look, you’re not the one who has to deal with the antichrist in his backseat,” Crowley replied. Imperceptibly, his hands began to shake; he did have a timeline to follow in delivering the baby, and he needed a plan. “Aziraphale, I really don’t know--” 

A beeping on the other end indicated, to Crowley’s horror, that he had been hung up on. The phone booth disappeared around him. 

“Aaaaargh!” He screamed. “I give up!” 

In his arms, the Adversary, Destroyer of Kings, Angel of the Bottomless Pit, Great Beast that is called Dragon, Prince of This World, Father of Lies, Spawn of Satan, and Lord of Darkness burped up a little. Then he began crying again. 

So Crowley did what he did best: caused chaos. The the Adversary, Destroyer of Kings, Angel of the Bottomless Pit, Great Beast that is called Dragon, Prince of This World, Father of Lies, Spawn of Satan, and Lord of Darkness, of course stayed with him; it was a simple task to shuffle the children among the nuns, made easier by an extra, unplanned birth. The end result was that Crowley had the Adversary, Destroyer of Kings, Angel of the Bottomless Pit, Great Beast that is called Dragon, Prince of This World, Father of Lies, Spawn of Satan, and Lord of Darkness; of course it was. Crowley was an expert at card tricks, after all, and this one was no different. 

Crowley knew that Aziraphale would get over himself as soon as his angel saw the new baby, and then the situation wouldn't be quite so complicated. He could survive by himself until then. 


End file.
